Ex-cop reaches settlement

Published 10:49 am, Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The settlement of a lawsuit against the town of New Milford by a fired police officer allows him to officially retire from the New Milford Police Department.

Yet Brant Cadovius' appeal for unemployment compensation has been denied.

The state Department of Labor's Board of Review turned down the 10-year NMPD veteran's unemployment request, finding he had engaged in deliberate misconduct.

Mr. Cadovius was found to have threatened and attempted to coerce a teenager to pay him $2,000 for a wallet he said the boy stole more than three years ago.

The 42-year-old Sherman resident was fired in June 2011, after his arrest a year earlier on felony charges of extortion and threatening.

In November 2011, he pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine to a misdemeanor charge of second-degree breach of peace.

Since that time, Mr. Cadovius has been seeking unemployment compensation, as well as a legal claim against the town alleging he was inappropriately terminated.

In the settlement of his suit, Mr. Cadovius is considered retired as of June 26, 2011.

The town's attorney, Scott McCarthy, said Friday Mr. Cadovius would be eligible at age 55 to collect his pension benefits, but the town now pays him only $10,000 in accrued sick and vacation time.

Mr. Cadovius is not eligible for further appeals of compensation benefits, and he must assure the teenager and his family that he will release them from any further legal action.

"Given what occurred, the town did not want this individual back as a police officer, or working in any other capacity for the town, and so wanted to resolve the matter paying only what was owed to him under the (police union) contract,'' Mr. McCarthy said. "And we successfully were able to have his claim for unemployment benefits denied.''

Mr. Cadovius' attorney, Daniel Hunsberger in Ridgefield, who represented him in the unemployment compensation appeals, could not be reached for comment.

The settlement against the town states that, though Mr. Cadovius has been allowed to retire, he does so without being given a badge or any retirement credentials. The internal affairs report that prompted his termination will now be removed from his personnel file.